Photo by Valerie Wutti
OTTAWA – The Carleton Ravens are one step closer to the 2021 U SPORTS National Championships this November, but before they get there they’ll need to battle with the best that Ontario has to offer. The reigning OUA Champions open their postseason this Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. when they host the McMaster Marauders at the Ravens’ Perch (Main Field).
The Ravens finished the regular season with a 7-1-2 record, good for 2nd in the OUA East division and fourth place overall. The Ravens enter the playoffs ranked third in the U SPORTS Top 10 and will face a game Marauders squad that finished 6-2-2 for second in the Central.
Here at GoRavens.ca we have everything you need to know to be ready for the matchup.
Goals will no doubt be on the menu on Wednesday as the two highest-scoring teams in the OUA lock up. The Ravens scored 40 goals in the regular season, 7 more than McMaster who sit second with 33. While both teams can bring the offense, they also surrendered a couple, with the Ravens averaging 0.8 goals against per game and Marauders 1.1.
After a challenging weekend against the top-ranked York Lions, the Ravens offense has exploded since the viral Matteo de Brienne goal, scoring 12 goals in the last weekend of the season including another three from the rookie sensation de Brienne.
The Ravens have goals from 17 different players in 2021 including nine players with multiple goals. Regular scoring threats Gabriel Bitar, Ricky Comba and Dario Conte have been joined in the offensive party by a slew of depth scoring including Jeremy Aweya, Luca Piccioli, Scott Mazzotta, Emad Houache and Quinn Honeyman-Wootton.
Dusan Kovacevic has been a force for McMaster, after opening the season by attacking Algoma with a blistering 15 shots and 5 goals in two games. Kovacevic held pace the rest of the way scoring 7 more times while finishing with 23 shots on target.
The Ravens will look to get to McMaster goalkeeper Tristan Joyce early. The fourth-year keeper from Bill Crothers S.S. has appeared in all ten games for the Marauders with 25 saves and a 5-1-2 record to go along with his .735 save percentage.
